Looking Forward (Cautiously) to the Upcoming Mini-Tour!

Three weeks from today, I’ll be in Minneapolis waiting for my first Duran show since the summer of 2009. To say that I’m excited is a bit of an understatement! I have been barely able to keep myself in check while I see others attending Duran shows, including my writing partner. Soon it will be my turn. Like Rhonda, I will be able to see two shows before we head to the UK. Unlike Rhonda, these shows will be back-to-back, in Minneapolis and Chicago. In my opinion, these shows are the warm-ups to the shows in the UK. It isn’t that I’m not thrilled to go to them, but they will be different. First, they are general admission shows, which I hate, but will suffer through. The shows in the UK have seats and we have pretty good seats for them. 🙂 Then, for the shows here, I’m sure that I will run into people I know! While this is generally a good thing, I will be able to experience the freshness, the fun of meeting new people while in the UK. Lastly, I will be attending these shows in the Midwest with some people I have attended shows with and some new people. No matter what, it will be different than what I am used to.

I have been “touring” for what seems like a long time now. When I first started attending multiple shows back during the 2005 tour, I went to shows with a ton of different people and had an awesome time doing it! Then, as the years progressed, I found myself getting into a touring pattern of sorts. I now have a routine to attending shows. It usually goes something like this. A show or series of shows are announced, I call Rhonda. We both comment for hours about how silly the dates are and about the genius was who came up with the shows in this way. At the same time we are doing this, we are contemplating what can be done and what should be done. After a conversation or three, we generally have a plan. (This is pretty much how we decided the UK tour, too.) That plan usually consists of the two of us finding our way to a location where a show is taking place. From there, we pick a typical hotel for us and fill in an agenda. We have actually developed traditions on tours that we can’t imagine not doing now. For example, we like to eat at IHOP at some point. Bet you would never get the Duran connection there…Anyway, we have developed a similar style of traveling and a similar approach when it comes to the show itself. For example, some fans like to get to the venue at the last minute. We aren’t like that. We prefer to arrive in time to scope out our location, get a drink, etc. I’m not sure if we were really this similar before we started touring together or if it just happened naturally over the years, but it is what it is now. I have to admit that I like it this way. It is comfortable and both of us know what to expect of it and of each other. Obviously, it has worked well for us as we keep doing it over and over again. If it didn’t, we probably wouldn’t be planning to travel to the UK together for 9 days!

Now, for my Midwestern mini-tour, I will be going with people other than Rhonda. I’m obviously looking forward to seeing the band live, especially seeing the new songs performed, but I’m also looking forward to the experience of going to shows with different people. My Midwestern travel buddy is a good friend of mine here and is someone who is going with us to the UK. We are good friends who have attended shows together before. We have even been to many of the same Duran shows but we have never really gone together. (That seems really weird to me, by the way.) While I believe that we are going to have an awesome experience both at the shows and traveling to them, I still know that it will be different than when I go with Rhonda. I’m pretty serious when it comes to my Duran show experiences and hope that I don’t scare her away or anything! LOL. Beyond my hometown buddy, three other people will be joining us. One of those people will be another good friend of mine who lives in Minneapolis. She has attended a Duran show with me and knows what to expect (I think. I hope.) Will these two friends get along? I suspect that they will! Then, for the Chicago show, we have two others joining us. One of them is a friend of hers whom I have been looking forward to meeting for a long time. She isn’t a Duranie, though. She likes the band and is looking for a good time. Will this person think I’m insane? I can be pretty intense about my fandom. (If this blog wasn’t proof of that, the book will be!) The last person has yet to be completely determined. I’m hoping that my cousin’s wife is able to go. She has been a long time Duranie and I know she will have a blast, if she is able to arrange for a baby-sitter.

I have three weeks to finalize my plans for this little mini-tour. The concert goers will all be set as will the times of departure in all locations. We will have a game plan about when to arrive to the venues and where we should head to when we enter them. Hopefully, we will have a chance to see other friends when out and about. I have no doubt that the band will live up to my expectations. I suspect that despite any concern I have about this little mini-tour, I think it will still be absolutely fabulous and will wet my appetite for more!

3 thoughts on “Looking Forward (Cautiously) to the Upcoming Mini-Tour!”

I get what you mean about going to a show with a non-Duranie. I have previously only been with my ex SIL (who is a Duranie) and my hubby, who puts up with my insanity. I am going to Houston this week with two close friends, who like the band, but are not Duranies. They do not know the new material, and I am afraid they are expecting a show entirely composed of the mega 80s hits they remember. I tried to prepare them by sending Youtube clips of the new stuff… their “tutorial!”

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